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The first seven months of a new Republican-controlled Congress have ended, and House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., wants Americans to know the GOP is just beginning its work to provide solutions for the American people.

“Instead of top-down bureaucrats picking winners and losers, our goal is an opportunity economy built on good-paying jobs and the freedom to innovate,” McMorris Rodgers said. “We are just getting started on solving problems to empower you have the opportunity to pursue your own future and reach your full potential.”

McMorris Rodgers provided a list of things the GOP is happy to have accomplished, including ending the bulk collection of phone data, enacting some entitlement reforms, and passing the first balanced budget plan to make it through both chambers since 2001. She also said Republicans “ensured that Congress will have a say on the bad nuclear deal with Iran,” and have improved care for veterans.

Despite this, the American people still hold lawmakers in low regard — just 18 percent of those surveyed in an Economist/YouGov poll conducted earlier this month approve of the job Congress has done.

While dissatisfaction with Congress is spread across party lines, presidential polling also provides key insight into the minds of Republican voters and those who would consider voting for the GOP. Despite more than a dozen current or former GOP-elected officials running for president, voters have chosen Donald Trump, a businessman and reality TV star, as the Republican front-runner. He has never held elective office, and is quick to portray himself as a straight-talking outsider on the stump.

WASHINGTON—The Republican-controlled House Thursday passed legislation that would withhold federal law-enforcement grants from cities that shelter illegal immigrants from federal authorities, part of a campaign to punish what are known as sanctuary cities.

The Associated Press provided the lame excuse from the Obama administration that the bill would “lead to mistrust between local communities and law enforcement agencies” and, therefore, he would veto the bill.

Jim Steinle, Kathryn Steinle’s father, testified before a Senate committee last Tuesday and told them, “Due to disjointed law and basic incompetence on many levels, the U.S. has suffered a self-inflicted wound by the hand of a person who never should have been on the streets of this country.”

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said President Obama relaxed the rules on ICE detainers, making it optional instead of mandatory for cities to comply. This opened the door for the ACLU to file lawsuits on behalf of illegal aliens, he said.

An ICE detainer is a written request that a local jail or other law enforcement agency detain an individual for an additional 48 hours (excluding weekends and holidays) after his or her release date in order to provide ICE agents extra time to decide whether to take the individual into federal custody for removal purposes.

“ICE detainers are not mandatory as a matter of law. So this is not initiated by ICE, they’re reacting to the threat of litigation by the ACLU, and by changing the word ‘shall’ in these detainer orders,” King said. “I think we’ve clearly heard today the effect of that, and we’ve heard it from expert testimony and from very painful experience.”

The painful experience was that of Jim Steinle, father Kate Steinle, 32, who died at the hands of an illegal alien July 1 who had a string of prior arrests. “This will make you cry too, and it happens every day. This story happens every day in the U.S.,” King said.

King also said that in 2011 along, 48,000 crimes were committed by illegal aliens against US citizens and that 30,000 were arrested and released in 2014.

The author of the bill, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA) said, “The American people have the right to not give their tax dollars to municipalities and states that do not follow federal law. The fact that San Francisco and L.A. and other cities disagree with the politics of federal enforcement does not give them a free pass to subvert the law.”

While Democrats have charged that the measure is “anti-immigrant,” they fail to distinguish between those who come into our country legally and those that don’t. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO), whose represents a district that is made up of twenty percent Hispanic, says the bill is neither “anti-immigrant” nor “anti-Hispanic.” Rather it should be seen as “pro-law enforcement.”

While Republicans view the passing of the bill as a victory, Democrats claim that it is pandering to people who agree with the statements of Donald Trump concerning illegal aliens. While one does not know the motives of Republicans in the matter, it seems to have been a push to actually attempt to move in the right direction of dealing with the issue of illegal aliens and sanctuary cities, not to be confused with theBible’s cities of refuge.

This isn’t the only bill that is attempting to deal with the issue of sanctuary cities.

On Saturday, Suzanne Hamner reported on another bill in the Senate to deal with the issue.

MORE FROM KRGV

Catholic charities said federal authorities released the illegal crossers without any travel documents.

“We’ve seen almost a doubling of our numbers, I would say, in the last 3-4 weeks,” said Sacred Heart Church Volunteer Coordinator Deb Boyce.

Last summer, Deb Boyce came to Sacred Heart on a mission trip from Ohio. A sister from the church asked her to stay.

“There are only a couple of paid employees here at the respite center, so we rely almost exclusively on volunteers,” Boyce said.

Boyce’s background is in public relations, fundraising, development and philanthropy. The crisis on the border sparked new responsibilities for her.

“There are a number of refugees that are being released now without bus tickets in hand, so when they come to the center, you know, we have to make arrangements for them,”

Volunteers are helping the crossers contact their family members in the U.S., so they can purchase bus tickets.

Boyce said that 65 people slept at the church overnight. The relief center is not equipped for overnight stays. The city sent staff to make more room.

“We will run out of something, and we’re like, ‘Oh my! What are we going to do?’” Boyce said. “And it almost seems like, within the hour, or two, the door opens up and the things we need suddenly appear.”

Volunteers at the respite center are filling the gaps left by the federal government and finding comfort in faith.

The center is seeing upwards of 140 people a day, that’s double the numbers from a month ago.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is responsible for the release of the illegal crossers in McAllen. CHANNEL 5 NEWS requested information as to why some people were dropped off without travel documents.

Statement from ICE Spokesperson Adelina Pruneda:

“ICE routinely coordinates release plans and travel arrangements with family members of people being released from custody in the Rio Grande Valley. There were recent instances where, while ICE contacted family members, confirmation of ticketed travel was not received. ICE is now again ensuring ticketed travel confirmation is received before releasing individuals from custody.”

The cost of setting up and maintaining the second tent at Sacred Heart was just tacked onto McAllen’s running tab.

The city has spent more than $330,000 on the crisis on the border. All of that money was spent over the last year.

McAllen is still waiting to be paid back by either the federal or state government. Lawmakers said the federal government will pick up the tab. There is no action yet.

DuPage prosecutors charge West Chicago man with sexually assaulting two girls.
A West Chicago man who is accused of sexually assaulting two young daughters of an acquaintance was ordered held in lieu of $1 million bail, DuPage County prosecutors said Thursday.

Obdulio Lopez-Gomez, 39, of Burr Oaks Drive, appeared in bond court Thursday following his arrest on four counts of predatory criminal sexual assault.
Authorities say Lopez-Gomez assaulted the girls on numerous occasions between February and July while he was at their residence. The girls eventually alerted a trusted adult, who called police, and they contacted the DuPage County Children’s Center, prosecutors said.

Lopez-Gomez is in the United States illegally, according to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.

Should Lopez-Gomez be found guilty of at least one count against both the girls, he would face a mandatory life sentence, prosecutors said. His court date for arraignment was set for Aug. 24.

“My heart goes out to these two young victims as they attempt to come to terms with what Mr. Lopez-Gomez has allegedly done to them,” State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said.

Here’s a twist. The U.S. Border Patrol recently had a run-in with a legal immigrant coming from Mexico.

Anett Pikula, 39, fancies herself a jetsetter and a model. She travels the world taking pictures of herself posing seductively near famous sites such as the Great Wall of China or London’s Big Ben and posts them on Instagram.

But this time, Pikula was at the Mexic0-U.S. border near Lukeville, Arizona. She was crossing into the United States in her 2006 gold Mercedes-Benz and apparently thought flirting with the Border Patrol agents might help her get through the customs process a little easier.

She thought wrong.

Her flirting included a lot of talking, which made the federal officials suspicious. So after a preliminary inspection of her automobile, they brought in a drug-sniffing dog.

The dog sniffed around the car then went nuts around the engine firewall. That’s where inspectors found a secret compartment holding 13 pounds of cocaine, neatly packed like bricks and shrink-wrapped, worth $134,000.

Pikula’s cocaine and Mercedes were seized by customs. She was turned over to immigration officials. A passenger with Pikula was released.

Pikula was born in Mexico but resides in Phoenix. She became a U.S. citizen earlier this year.

Democratic Rep.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) 20%

used his time testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to furiously denounce the Center for Immigration Studies’ Jessica Vaughan, after she turned his dismissal of Kathryn Steinle’s murder as “a little thing” against him.

Vaughan, Director of Policy Studies, testified about the dangers sanctuary policies pose to Americans when local jurisdictions refuse to hand over illegal aliens to immigration authorities, or even detain them.

“As someone who has also lost a close family member,” Vaughan said, “my brother, because of a negligent act by a sworn law enforcement officer and also a bad policy — and I should add that the offense that was committed was one that some on this committee would call a ‘minor traffic offense’ that killed my brother, I have to say that it is really not OK to refer to these tragedies as a ‘little thing,’ as one member of this committee has.”

This reference was to Gutierrez, who brushed off Steinle’s murder during a July 16 interview with Telemundo. After a reporter cited the killing in relation to sanctuary cities, he responded: “Every time a little thing like this happens, [Republicans] use the most extreme example to say it must be eliminated.”

Vaughan continued, “I have a friend. Her name is Heather. A few years ago, she was carjacked at knife-point and taken to Roger Williams’ Park in Providence, Rhode Island, and raped repeatedly by an illegal alien who had been in the custody of the Providence Police Department more than once,” but was released thanks to a mayor’s sanctuary city policies.

“This was not a ‘little thing,’” she declared. “I have other friends, some in this room, who can tell similar stories. And I’m afraid Congress is about to get away with doing just a ‘little thing’ just by barring funding from these sanctuary jurisdictions, some funding. And I’m asking you today to not be satisfied by just doing a ‘little thing.’ This big problem requires you to have the courage to do a bigger thing.”

Gutierrez was spitting mad.

About three minutes into his testimony, he asked to re-read a statement he made at another hearing. He began to read in an increasingly angry tone.

“I just want to, just for the record, because I think it is very important –” he paused, glaring daggers at the audience, likely at Vaughan. “Listen to this,” he demanded, with another pregnant pause. He then read aloud a statement he made during a July 14 hearing.

“‘I want to say to you, Mr. Gowdy, that I feel the same anguish and pain that I know the secretary does, and every American should at the death of that woman,’” he read. “That nobody has come here to look for excuses or anything else. I mean, this is a career criminal we have on our hands… This man is not an immigrant. Immigrants come here to work hard, sweat, and toil,” he read in staccato, before rushing on: “We should be warm and welcoming them; this man is a foreigner who has come to cause damage.”

He appeared to calm himself somewhat before stating: “‘Let’s fix our broken immigration system, so we can get rid of foreigners who come here to cause damage, harm and welcome immigrants.’”

“That is my statement,” he said, waving a piece of paper. “I’d just like to put it in the record, once again, because apparently Mrs. Vaughan didn’t read it,” he snarled. “Or take the time to read it.”

“Secondly, on the floor of the House of Representatives, on July 9, quote — and this is in the record, and I’d like to put it in the record once again, because apparently Mrs. Vaughan doesn’t read,” he spat, “what is actually said, in the English language, in the English language, that I have said.”

This was a deeply disingenuous thing for Gutierrez to say about Steinle’s murder: In English, he said he could “only imagine the grief her family is feeling” on the Congressional record. One week later, he said in Spanish her death was “a little thing.” Politicians talk out both sides of their mouth, but thanks to mass immigration, the U.S. can see its elected representatives do so in different languages.

Gutierrez accused Vaughan of “exploiting” Steinle’s death by pointing out that defiant local authorities refused to cooperate with immigration law enforcement, and that Gutierrez himself scoffed at her murder.

Gutierrez, always audacious, adopted Steinle’s murder as a way to plug his own political career.

“Apparently,” Gutierrez said as he removed his glasses and gathered himself up in a fury, “people have decided to besmirch people’s reputation, and take their words, and exploit the death of a beautiful young American woman. And I will not simply stand here and remain silent while that happens. You may not believe that we should have, Mrs. Vaughan, a fixing of our broken immigration system. But don’t exploit a young woman’s death in order to receive a paycheck to put food on your table.”

That Americans have lost beloved family members to illegal aliens made no impression on Gutierrez. He demanded Vaughan stop talking about immigration altogether.

“You should find a more decent and practical way about going about your living,” he shouted.

And then Gutierrez turned to her grieving father.

“To Mr. Steinle, I am so sorry about the death of your daughter,” he said, putting a hand to his heart. “I assure you I have a 36-year-old, and a 27-year-old, and I love them dearly. And I can never imagine losing them. And I will work to make sure we fix this immigration system. And the situations like the ones you suffer never happen again.”

“That has been my record in the past, in working with the members of the minority and the majority in this House. And I take great offense at anyone suggesting otherwise,” he concluded.